Franklin man booked in Mississippi kidnapping

Franklin man booked in Mississippi kidnapping

A Franklin man wanted in a Mississippi kidnapping was arrested Monday after a St. Mary Parish Sheriff’s Office detective saw the suspect walking out of a Franklin hospital, but not before a chase that resulted in two school lockdowns, officials said.

Before Joseph Lightfoot Jr., 41, was found underneath a bed in a stranger’s apartment and arrested, the detective had to wrestle Lightfoot into custody, St. Mary Sheriff’s Office Spokeswoman Traci Landry said.

The Sheriff’s Office received a notice Monday morning from the Amite County Sheriff’s Office in southwest Mississippi that said Lightfoot had kidnapped a woman and was en route to Franklin in her car. Later, after receiving information that the victim was receiving medical treatment at Franklin Foundation Hospital, a detective saw Lightfoot leave the hospital, Landry said Tuesday in a news release.

A car chase down Chatsworth Road became a foot chase after Lightfoot abandoned the car, Landry said.

Deputies surrounded an area that included an apartment complex and was near two schools, Lagrange Elementary School and Franklin Junior High, which were placed on lockdown. A call to Landry seeking the schools’ names was not immediately returned Tuesday morning.

Lightfoot was booked into the St. Mary Parish Law Enforcement Center in Centerville on one count each of resisting an officer, resisting an officer by flight, resisting an officer with force, and on an Amite County, Mississippi, warrant for kidnapping.